


Pride

by lifeaftermeteor



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Duo Maxwell, Fluff, Gay Pride, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Endless Waltz, Post-Series, Pride, Short & Sweet, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25361545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeaftermeteor/pseuds/lifeaftermeteor
Summary: Duo has only recently come to terms with his asexuality. It took him a long time to understand it, and even longer to embrace it as inherently part of himself. To celebrate, Heero takes him out onto the streets for New York City’s Pride.
Relationships: Duo Maxwell/Heero Yuy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13
Collections: 2020 Gundam Wing Pride Event





	Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tumbledrylemur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumbledrylemur/gifts).



> A personal request of my lovely friend and beta, [tumbledrylemur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumbledrylemur). The [2020 Gundam Wing Pride Event](https://wingqueero.tumblr.com/) offered the perfect opportunity to write this little side story to the [Life After Meteor](https://archiveofourown.org/series/391015) series. I hope you enjoy it~~~!

Duo twisted the multi-colored beads between his fingers, listening to them click together as he wound and unwound them again and again. It felt odd to have them hanging from his neck like a signpost or a brand. _Look at me_ , they seemed to shout, an odd thing to wear for someone who much preferred to not draw attention to himself.

...or rather, draw very particular attention and usually only in the direction he wanted you to look. Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain.

He worried his lower lip between his teeth and turned his eyes to look out the subway train’s scuffed and scratched window, despite the lack of a view. Darkness whisked by, marked only by the stray maintenance light amidst the labyrinth of tunnels under the city. Duo was more amenable to the above-ground trams in Brussels or even the well-lit circulators on the colonies. Not for the first time, he wondered if New York kept their tunnels so dark to avoid you seeing the size of the rats they had down here.

There was a gentle touch at his fingers where they clutched the beads to his chest, and Duo startled in his seat. He turned and watched Heero take his hand in his own, lacing their fingers together before their intertwined hands fell into his lap. Heero looked up then, and Duo studied him in his uncharacteristically bright glory. A stenciled rainbow had earned pride of place high on his cheek while technicolor glitter highlighted his eyes and cheekbones. He too sported colored beads around his neck, but while Duo’s had been self-restricted to a limited pallet, the strands that hung down against Heero’s chest matched the rainbow on his cheek.

Heero’s face was unreadable to most, but that was really only if you didn’t know where to look. To Duo, Heero was always obvious. A softness around his pretty blue eyes, a quirk at the corner of his lips. Heero was currently amused, but also feeling rather fond. Of him. Of his uncertainty. Duo felt his cheeks burn a bit, having been read as easily as he did the reading. “Sorry,” he muttered.

Heero shook his head. “Don’t be. I know this isn’t your prerogative, but I appreciate it. It means a lot.”

Duo gave him a small smile at that, knowing that it was colored by doubt. “I know,” he assured his partner. “It’s just...I feel kinda like I’m crashing the party. In very obvious ways.”

Heero shook his head again, emphatically this time. “You belong there as much as I do. As much as anyone does. I promise.” He smirked at him, the mood lightening. “Besides, where else are you going to wear that shirt?”

Duo looked down at his chest. Beneath the beads, he read the upside down words emblazoned on his chest: _I’m not gay, but my boyfriend is._ Paired with the purple, black, silver, and white beads around his neck, it was clear where on the sexual spectrum Duo landed: the asexual side. 

It had taken a long time to understand that side of himself, and even longer to fully embrace it. L2 culture had been too engrained in his psyche: sex was normal and natural and something all humans wanted… Except when they didn’t, apparently. He had been so scared to tell Heero, their relationship still new and feeling like something fragile.

He had therefore been pleasantly surprised when he discovered that not only was their bond strong enough to withstand the knowledge, but Heero embraced him and loved him regardless. Heero accepted him as he was and it had filled Duo’s heart nearly to the point of bursting with relief and love.

The first summer since that fateful conversation, they had decided to return to Heero’s old stomping grounds in New York City at the end of June to celebrate with a community Duo was still edging himself into. When Trowa had heard about the trip, he’d immediately sent Duo the shirt to wear while Heero ensured the two of them had had sufficient rainbow-themed paraphernalia to be recognized from space (or so Duo could only assume).

Duo’s nerves hadn’t truly lit up until they were on the subway and riding deeper into Manhattan. Sitting beside Heero, he watched as at each stop more revelers joined the train until hardly a passenger wasn’t adorned with bright colors, brightening the otherwise gloomy atmosphere. He wondered if they saw him and thought him out of place, wondered if they’d still think him part of their family if Heero wasn’t with him. Duo tucked his knees up against the seat in front of him as he pulled his and Heero’s clasped hands over into his own lap. He felt Heero’s thumb sweep over his knuckles and smiled to himself, trying to shake off his lingering anxiety.

As the train drew to a stop and the passengers flooded out onto the platform, Heero tugged at Duo’s hand, and the two of them shuffled out of the train alongside the rest of the bedazzled and rainbow-clad revelers. No sooner had they stepped onto the platform, however, than someone hailed them with a delighted, “Ace ace baby!” Duo turned and found a woman with a bright wig and what easily could have been hundreds of bright beads hanging from her arms, draped like wings. The woman grinned. “Ha! I knew I saw those colors right!”

Bewildered, Duo let her approach and as she did, she pulled several more strands of purple, black, and silver beads from her arms. Slinging them around his neck, she said, “Welcome to the party!” before festooning Heero with more rainbow beads of his own and then disappearing into the crowd.

Duo stood shell-shocked on the platform, not entirely sure what to make of the exchange. Heero chuckled beside him. “You might want to get used to that, for today at least,” Heero told him as he gave Duo’s hand a squeeze and led them toward the exit.

They followed the river of people up the escalators and out into the Manhattan streets and under the brilliant summer sun. Duo withdrew his aviators and dropped them over his eyes, Heero doing much the same beside him as they followed the growing crowd of people. “I assume it’s this way,” Duo said, gesturing generally at the people heading in the same direction. 

“That’s a fair guess.”

As they walked, the crowd drew ever closer in, funneled toward a central access point to the parade route. They knew they had reached the site when the crowd stopped moving and over the sea of heads and shoulders, Duo could glimpse half-visible platforms and people accompanied by an ever-changing soundtrack of loud and boisterous music. 

With a grimace, he pushed himself up as high as he could on the balls of his feet before dropping back down. _Too short_. He huffed in frustration and shoved his hands into his pockets, glaring at the backs of the people in front of him.

Beside him, Heero snorted. There was a gentle poke to his ribs, and when Duo turned to admonish his boyfriend, he caught Heero pointing across the street with a smirk. Duo followed the man’s finger over the sea of bodies, balloons, and floats, and discovered several other rainbow-attired parade watchers had taken to the lampposts. “Best seat in the house,” Heero said with a knowing, lopsided grin and then tipped his head at the lamppost that stood next to them. Duo glanced up at its empty crossbar and then back at his partner. He hesitated only a second longer before starting his climb.

Duo mounted the post like a ship mast, scrambling up to avoid the dark metal burning his hands until he had nearly reached the top. He hooked his arms and legs around the pole and, once secure, glanced down to find Heero perched not far below. Duo turned his eyes then to the parade itself and sighed, grinning. “Much better.”

Up and down the parade route were a menagerie of technicolor mayhem. Community organizers tossed beads to outstretched hands that caught the strands mid-air. Impressive floats festooned with colored paper and impossible architecture drifted by, bearing scantily clad dancing men. Roller derby girls. Drag queens. Proud marchers who bore their flags and sigils aloft. Balloons, music, feathers, glitter...and of course the ever-present rainbows as far as the eye could see. 

But once his eyes and ears had adjusted to the sensory overload...he noticed the banners and the signs. Names of those lost. Recognition of communities who struggled and suffered even while New York celebrated openly. Calls for change, for support, for the fight to continue. Until everyone was safe, until everyone could be happy. Duo felt his throat go tight and clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes against the telltale pricks behind his eyes. After a time, he took a steadying breath and blinked out over the sea of people below him.

It was then that a banner with a familiar color pallet caught his eye. He laughed, surprised. There, amidst all the chaos...was _his_ community.

And they spotted him too. One of the banner carriers shook loose strands of beads from their free arm and pointed up at him, waited only a beat for acknowledgement, and then promptly slung the beads his way.

Duo had only a second to react, locking his legs around the lamppost while he stretched his arm out to catch the strands. They twisted around his wrist with the force of the throw and--waving them aloft in his fist--was met with cheers from the asexual and aromantics on the street below. On the pole beneath him, Heero laughed and patted his foot in congratulations.

They watched the parade progress for what felt to Duo like an eternity wrapped up impossibly in only a few short minutes. The sun started to set behind the towering buildings of Manhattan, and at last it seemed they had reached the end...at least of this celebration. Below, people began to drift away as the last of the parade continued down the parade route.

Again there was a pat on his foot from below. Duo glanced down to see Heero retreating down the lamppost to the sidewalk below. As he stepped away, Duo shimmied down the pole a bit before dropping the remaining distance down beside Heero. 

Duo took his hand as he straightened and in the corner of his eye, he caught the small smile grace Heero’s lips. He watched Heero’s eyes drift to their fingers, easily entwined and on display. Duo felt a grin slide into place as he tugged Heero closer, wrapping his arm around the other man’s waist. “That was fun,” he said as he pulled Heero flush against his side. “What’s next?”

Heero chuckled as they walked away from the parade route and deeper into the city.

_______________________

**_Instagram Edit Sources:_ **

  * Profile Photo (Hupert Rapisardi)
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  * Row 2: [[1](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Flisting%2F711248901%2Fim-not-gay-but-my-boyfriend-is-funny%3Fref%3Dshop_home_active_121&t=Y2YwZTAwMGVhOTJiZTA1MzBhN2YxM2RjNjA3ZjdiYjdmMzkwZTQ0YSxBWGU1ZEdVMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A_Z4DXRO4vyfqEaXo5PfZmQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwingqueero.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F622300166716833793%2Fpride&m=1)] [[2](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pexels.com%2Fphoto%2Fperson-with-body-painting-1209843%2F&t=NGJkZWM4MWQ5NjFiZWFlNDA3YWJiNjI0YWMwM2QyYjI5NGZlMjkyMixBWGU1ZEdVMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A_Z4DXRO4vyfqEaXo5PfZmQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwingqueero.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F622300166716833793%2Fpride&m=1)] [[3](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pexels.com%2Fphoto%2Fgrayscale-of-men-2027664%2F&t=NmM0MDg3MDM4YjQ2YzQ0NjJlOGZhM2VmZDdkZjcxNjMyMzc5YmQ4NSxBWGU1ZEdVMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A_Z4DXRO4vyfqEaXo5PfZmQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwingqueero.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F622300166716833793%2Fpride&m=1)]
  * Row 3: [[1](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2019%2F10%2F20%2Fus%2Fasexuality-explainer-trnd%2Findex.html&t=ZjZhNmMyMTg1YTFkMmJhMTk0YWU0YjZmZjM1NjQ1OTBhYTdlNGFkZixBWGU1ZEdVMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A_Z4DXRO4vyfqEaXo5PfZmQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwingqueero.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F622300166716833793%2Fpride&m=1)] [[2](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pexels.com%2Fphoto%2Ftwo-men-sitting-down-1998270%2F&t=ZTUzOWMwNzUwNWJmYzZiNWRlMTMxZjQwYjU1NjI5MjcyMmE3ZmRmZCxBWGU1ZEdVMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A_Z4DXRO4vyfqEaXo5PfZmQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwingqueero.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F622300166716833793%2Fpride&m=1)] [[3](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pexels.com%2Fphoto%2Fwoman-opening-her-mouth-2336840%2F&t=YjEwMjJhOTQ0NGZmMmFhNmIzZTg5ZDUyMGUzZTU4NTViODA5OWVmZixBWGU1ZEdVMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A_Z4DXRO4vyfqEaXo5PfZmQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwingqueero.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F622300166716833793%2Fpride&m=1)]




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